Tonight's Dinner: Baked Gnocchi

Jennifer is a stay-at-home mom with a passion for writing, vintage clothes, old movies and cooking, especially dinners and desserts. Jennifer loves writing so much that whenever she has a spare moment, she spends it writing fiction or ad...

Bolognese and Gnocchi make a Good team

Gnocchi, bolognese sauce and mozzarella are all it takes to make a dinner the whole family will love.

The hubby and I are huge gnocchi fans. So much so that whenever we go to an Italian restaurant, if there's ever gnocchi on the menu, that's what we order. We don't care if it's baked, fried, served as a side or the main course. So when I saw this baked gnocchi over at Bell'alimento, I knew we'd both love it. And, no surprise, I was so right.

While Pamela's version calls for straight marinara sauce, I wanted to add a little bit of meat to mine. So I used the same recipe I used a few months back when I poured bolognese over polenta. The result was out of this world. And since you can use both pre-made gnocchi and pre-made marinara as your base, this meal can be whipped up in under 30 minutes.

Baked Gnocchi

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1 tablespoon basil

1 teaspoon oregano

2 cups marinara sauce

1 cup frozen peas

16 ounces potato gnocchi

1-1/2 cups mozzarella

4 tablespoons Parmigiano Reggiano, grated, divided

2 tablespoons bread crumbs

Directions

In a large skillet cook the beef over medium-high heat for three minutes. Add the basil and oregano and cook for another 2 minutes or until no longer pink. Stir in the marinara sauce and peas and simmer for five to 10 minutes, or until heated through.

While the sauce simmers, cook the gnocchi according to the package directions; drain and return to the pot. Add bolognese sauce, mozzarella, and three tablespoons Parmgiano Reggiano. Toss to combine.